A squad of Parkland Valley weightlifters brought home gold and silver medals at the Saskatchewan Winter Games last month.
What makes their victories even more impressive is their relative newness to the sport.
鈥淢aybe I had two months [of] training with them,鈥� said coach Austin Hovrisko. 鈥淭hey impressed a lot of people.鈥�
Kurt Hoffman and Riley Richards each scored gold in the 94 kg male and the 94 + kg male categories, respectively.
Katelynne Hoffman snagged a silver medal in the 75 + kg聽 female weightlifting competition.
鈥淚t was very surprising [to win], but it was also very satisfying to complete the lifts,鈥� Katelynne said.
Hovrisko worked with the team well before the Winter Games. He鈥檚 served as a high school-level wrestling coach for two years in Yorkton.
鈥淚 used to wrestle...when I went to the Yorkton high school and then I wrestled for the University of Regina,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ince I鈥檓 in the area, I might as well put some old expertise to good use.鈥�
In high school, Hovrisko also dabbled in weightlifting, entering competitons.
鈥淚 was really impressed with the sport,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 saw the benefits it gave me.鈥�
Hovrisko said weightlifting is more dynamic than powerlifting. It requires speed and power flexibility, two skills that easily translate into wrestling. Hovrisko started teaching Kurt Hoffman weightlifting basics.
鈥淚 knew it would help his wrestling,鈥� Hovrisko said.
As the games approached, Parkland Valley asked Hovrisko to put a weightlifting team together. Hovrisko recuited athletes from his wrestling team and he started training them.
鈥淚 thought it鈥檇 be perfect to make a team out of my wrestling [group], since they鈥檙e going to benefit from that weightlifting training,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey excelled at it and they really enjoyed it.
鈥淚t was a best case scenario.鈥�
The weightlifting medalists were proud of their achievements.
鈥淚t felt pretty good,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淐ouldn鈥檛 have done it without [Hovrisko].鈥�
鈥淚t felt very satisfying to win the gold medal,鈥� Kurt Hoffman said.
Now that the games are over, the team is re-focused on wrestling. They went to a provincial wrestling competition last weekend.
Hovrisko hopes the team sticks to weightlifting for its benefits.
鈥淚 kind of want to compete again, so maybe we鈥檒l all do it as buddies instead of me just coaching them,鈥� he said.
